Design of Experiments Applied to the Analysis of an H-Darrieus Hydrokinetic Turbine with Augmentation Channels

This study presents a general 3 × 5 × 5 factorial experimental design to maximize the Power Coefficient (Cp) of an H-Darrieus hydrokinetic turbine equipped with external accessories. Five accessory configurations (standard, cycloidal, flat plate, curve, and blocking plate), three solidity levels, and five Tip-Speed Ratio (TSR) levels were evaluated as main factors under the hypothesis that these factors significantly influence Cp. The data analyzed were obtained from numerical simulations, and their processing was conducted using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), linear regression models, and response surfaces in the software programs Minitab 21 and RStudio V4.4.2. ANOVA makes it possible to determine the statistical significance of the effect of each factor and their interactions on the obtained Cp, identifying the accessories, TSR, and solidity that have the greatest impact on turbine performance. The results indicate that the optimal configuration to maximize Cp includes the flat-plate accessory, a solidity of 1.0, and a TSR of 3.2. From the linear regression models, mathematical relationships describing the system’s behavior were established, while the response surface analysis identified optimal operating conditions. These findings provide an effective tool for optimizing H-Darrieus turbine designs, highlighting the positive impact of accessories on performance improvement.